Crimson Kitty’s Lady Queen Returns to the Stonewall Inn

Hi there Crimson Kitty! I’m happy to talk to you again! How are you doing my dear?

I am fabulous and I haven’t even had my morning coffee yet!

Those two concepts seem completely foreign, or an “alternative fact” as the kids say these days!

Exactly! By the way, I just poured a cup!

So let’s cut to the chase while the caffeine works its magic! You have season two of Lady Queen debuting at the legendary Stonewall Inn in New York City this Sunday night! Tell us a little bit about how Lady Queen came about.

I had been performing for years under the Crimson Kitty moniker and wanted to expand the interest of doing a female drag show. I knew that San Francisco had one at one point but there were no actual shows for female or non-binary drag performers in New York City. The only opportunities that were open to me were shows with my drag family or competitions. I was getting tired of the performance circuit so I joined a collective called Switch N’ Play as a way to hone my drag skills. LadyQueen came about due to this connection as I had submitted a Drag King and Lady Queen double header show idea to the Dixon Place HOT! Festival but they only accepted the female drag part. It was kinda fluke to be honest but it was also meant to be. We had our first show at the festival and a Q&A and we were a SUCCESS!

How did it come to find a home at such an important historical venue like Stonewall?

I was a resident performer in my Drag Mother’s (Rebecca Glasscock) INVASIONS at Stonewall shows that we did on Holiday weekends. We would always do a Christmas show, a Halloween Show and so forth. Everything was themed and it really helped me grow as a performer. I had been performing at stonewall for random shows and through there met the booking manager Mike Salinari who to this day is my gay husband! I submitted the idea to him and we got dates and started working! We also have an amazing variety show every June in honor of my birthday called Crimson Kitty and her Frisky Kittens. It’s just an excuse for me to get all my naked friends under one roof with my drag friends.

Now you see, every time I try to get naked in a show, the audience yells, “Put it back!” instead of “Take it off!”. I think I’m doing something wrong.

Not at my shows!!!! *Laughs*

So let’s talk who is going to be at Lady Queen with you. It looks like there are some other names besides yourself that are familiar to the WERRRK.com universe.

YES! Now that we have the show established I am finally happy to say that we have expanded it from a show into a female and non-binary drag collective and probably one of the only drag collectives of its type in the world. I primarily put this together so that performers would have a safe space to perform and to show the world that we are valid entertainers. We have 3 inaugural members and yes they are VERY familiar to the WERRRK.com universe! First up is Cream Victoria who is one of my drag children. We have known each other for years in the burlesque scene in NYC and they approached me about wanting to create a character specifically for drag and we had her debut shortly thereafter. I love her use of camp and I really do wish that people were able to see that more during the Miss Bio-WERRRK Pageant because she is truly a freaking GENIUS and one of the best lip-syncers in NYC. She has created a home for herself at Rockbar in NYC and has even had her own solo shows since the pageant. Sugar Magnolia is my NEWEST drag baby and started out as my intern. She had the pleasure of helping me organize all my costumes which in turn she inherited a TON of my wigs, old costumes, shoes, accessories etc. She is now performing 2-4 times a week in NYC and I couldn’t be more proud. We are actually doing our first duet at CHOSEN this Tuesday at Vodka Soda Bottom’s Up! I had known about Pierretta Viktori before the Miss Bio-WERRRK Pageant as they sew many costumes for my drag sister Erika Klash but we never really spoke or hung out before until the pageant. I was so impressed especially with the challenge where they made like 20 million looks in a minute video. THAT made me realize I had to step it up! I’m really happy Pierretta has joined our little family because they have a distinct point of view. They can sew like a beast, makes mixes and do everything needed to put on a great show and in the end that is all that matters. Plus they like cats so its a win! (More details here!)

Perfect segue there by mentioning Erika Klash as you always have a big show with her in Brooklyn tomorrow night right?

YES! Erika Klash and I are literally the Will and Grace of drag. We met in drag, we have forged our own way in drag, have traveled together in drag, you name it! We are best friends and they honestly have encouraged me to explore my cosplay side which has EXPLODED and now i have so many characters! We actually discussed doing a cosplay based show for probably close to a year now and unfortunately now that Erika is leaving me and running off to San Francisco we have decided to do both the premiere and finale of our show! *Laughs* We already decided that KittyKlash was the name of our show so everything fell into place. We cast that show in like under an hour because people are really excited to see nerdy drag. This is also one of the very few events that allows both drag and burlesque to come together and nerd out. It’s usually very segregated.

So I hate to bring this down a bit but I have a major controversy to address with you. How does a New York city queen end up winning Miss Congeniality for our Miss Bio-WERRRK pageant? In the words of Julia Sugarbaker, “that is not something the women in my family aspire to!”. Can you please explain yourself?

*Laughs* Let me tell you!

I’m waiting!

Honestly I am the WORST Miss Congeniality. I have no idea how I won that to be honest. *Laughs* You know what, a lot of people see me as intimidating or a force to be reckoned with and that is all cute but I honestly have no time to be mean or petty especially to up and coming queens. I am actually one of the nicest queens you will ever meet once you get past the spikes and guard dogs. Anyone that has ever worked with me can attest to that. My goal was to win the pageant absolutely but those girls had FB at the tip of their fingers where all my fans thought I was promoting another show. I knew I wasn’t going to win by Week 2 so I just figured what the hell, let me help my competitors. *Laughs* However I predicted Monroe (Fitzgerald)’s win weeks before the announcement! I still should have won the damn Jem challenge by the way!!!! *Laughs*

Photo by Maddelynn Hatter

I think the Russians may have hacked that one if it makes you feel better.

They hacked everything else!

Finally that brings me to a more broad question, how do you see the art of female drag evolving under the current political climate?

Honestly I think this can be a good thing. Now that everyone is out in the streets protesting, it will probably open more doors because people’s mindsets will be more open to it. That’s not to say we won’t get the naysayers and we always will but I think doing political performances and doing feminist based work right now that is accessible to all is the way to go!

Thank you so much for your time my dear. I remain a big fan of yours and a strong proponent of your work. Good luck with season two of Lady Queen. Do you have any final words of wisdom to leave our readers with?

Always tip your performers and if buying me a drink I favor Red Bull & Vodka with a shot of Fireball!